The police officer poisoned with nerve agent is out of hospital, but says his life will 'never be the same'

Military personnel wearing protective suits remove a police car and other vehicles from a public car park as they continue investigations into the poisoning of Sergei Skripal on March 11, 2018 in Salisbury, England. Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images

DS Nick Bailey was one of the first on the scene when the former Russian spy and his daughter Yulia Skripal were found unconscious in Salisbury, England, and subsequently fell ill and was hospitalised himself.

In a statement, he said: "People ask me how I am feeling - but there are really no words to explain how I feel right now. Surreal is the word that keeps cropping up - and it really has been completely surreal.

"As I have begun to feel better, I have become aware of the widespread and enormous attention this whole incident has attracted.

"I find this really overwhelming - I am just a normal person with a normal life, and I don't want my wife, children, family or I to be part of that attention. I do hope the public can understand that."

"I recognise that 'normal' life for me will probably never be the same - and Sarah and I now need to focus on finding a new normal for us and for our children."

Britain blamed the Russian government for the chemical weapons attack, a charge that Russia denies.